The Mill Green Historic District is a

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

listed

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

located in

Harford County, Maryland Harford County is located in the U.S. state of Maryland. As of the 2020 census, the population was 260,924. Its county seat is Bel Air. Harford County is included in the Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is al ...

. The district consists of a small cluster of privately owned historic homes and buildings including a historic mill. The district is located at the junction of Mill Green Road and Prospect Road. Broad Creek flows through the district. The historic district designation was established in 1993.

History

Before the Revolutionary War, around 1770, William Ashmore built a house and mill in the area, which was inherited by his son John Ashmore in 1798. At that time, he owned 1,208 acres and five slaves. The area was initially known as Ashmore's Mill. The mill generated wheat flour, which was generally sold in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. The mill led to the expansion of the area into a 100-acre village with a general store, post office, saw mill, a cider mill, and an undertaker. The businesses, generally combined within the owners' residences, served Mill Green and area farmers. In 1801, a road was built that led to the county seat in Bel Air and north towards

York County, Pennsylvania York County ( Pennsylvania Dutch: Yarrick Kaundi) is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 456,438. Its county seat is York. The county was created on August 19, 1749, from part of Lancaster ...

. John's daughter, Susanna married Nathan Bemis. The couple was deeded 1,600 acres in land by John and Margaret Ashmore in 1821. An arrangement was established between Nathan and Susanna Bemis and the Ashmores in which the Ashmores lived in the original stone house, received a $10,000 bond, and received enough meat, produce and other food for three people. They also had a horse and two cows. Built in a distant and rural area, it became a self-sufficient community into the 19th century, with the establishment of a doctor's home and office, purchase of vacant land by farmers, and settlement of additional skilled tradesmen. Nathan Bemis, replaced the original mill with a new 3 story mill in 1827. No longer needed, the sawmill closed about 1933. The miller's house, the original house built by William Ashmore, was made a lodging. In the mid-20th century, a new road was built west of the village which led to

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

and

Darlington, Maryland Darlington is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in northeastern Harford County, Maryland, United States.Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal The Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal between Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, and Havre de Grace, Maryland, at the head of Chesapeake Bay, provided an interstate shipping alternative to 19th-century arks, rafts, and boats plying the difficult waters of ...

at Havre de Grace. The post office was later moved to

Street, Maryland Street is a rural unincorporated community in northern Harford County, Maryland, United States. One of the central villages in Street is Highland. The village had a station stop on the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad, at milepost 38.6, which se ...

. The buildings in the district include the Mill Green Mill and Mill Race (ca. 1827), Miller's House (ca. 1770), William G. Roberts House (ca. 1866), Biles House / Mill Green Hotel (ca. 1852), Biles Tenant House (ca. 1852), Treakle House (ca. 1873), Robinson-Huff-Famous House (ca. mid 19th century), Huff / Famous Tenant House (ca. third quarter of the 19th century), Mill Green Store and Post Office (ca. 1850), and Dr. William E. Arthur House (ca. 1898).

''Prigg v. Pennsylvania''

John Ashmore's widow, Margaret, and Natham Bemis became embroiled in what the Pennsylvania courts saw as a kidnapping and the Maryland courts saw as a lifetime enslavement of Margaret Morgan by John Ashmore's heirs. The case was heard in county, state and ultimately the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

case ''

Prigg v. Pennsylvania ''Prigg v. Pennsylvania'', 41 U.S. (16 Pet.) 539 (1842), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the court held that the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793 precluded a Pennsylvania state law that prohibited blacks from being taken out of the free s ...

''. Margaret Morgan may have been enslaved as a girl and young woman, but she and her parents were not included in the 1824 inventory of John Ashmore's property for the adjudicating the estate of Ashmore following his death in 1823.

References

External links

*, including photo dated 2000, at Maryland Historical Trust
Related documents
at Maryland Historical Trust {{National Register of Historic Places in Maryland Historic districts in Harford County, Maryland Federal architecture in Maryland Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Maryland National Register of Historic Places in Harford County, Maryland